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By John Lee.

Officials at Baghdad International Airport have reportedly intercepted a shipment of dollars and euros worth a total of $500m (£389m).

Writing in The Independent, Patrick Cockburn claims the cash was contained in 23 large bags unloaded from a Qatari plane, and was intended as a ransom for 24 Qataris, several of them leading members of the Qatari royal family, who were kidnapped 16 months ago by a Shia militia task force.

Although the funds were seized by the authorities, the Qataris were subsequently released from captivity.

The full story can be read here.

(Source: The Independent)

By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

After the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun on April 4, followed by the US airstrike on a Syrian air base April 7, tension between Iraq and the United States escalated significantly.

The United States has made it very clear to Iraq that it wants its ally in fighting terrorism to distance itself from Iran. During Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's visit to the United States last month, Abadi and US President Donald Trump discussed Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which indicates that the United States is seeking to bring Baghdad and Riyadh closer and to curb the Iranian role in the region. The visit sparked much controversy in Iraq among Shiite parties.

Moreover, Trump explicitly criticized the Iran nuclear deal in front of Abadi. A few days later, Trump sent his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to Iraq to discuss US support to Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State. The visit was read as a sign that the “Trump administration sees Iraq as a place to push back on the growing power of Iran across the region.”

Al-Monitor learned from a source close to the prime minister who asked to not be named that limiting Iran's role in Iraq was at the top of the list of the issues discussed between the two parties.

The National Iraqi Alliance said it was not aware of the details and meeting schedule of Abadi with the American administration. Other Shiite political parties expressed discontent with the visit, especially following the statement of Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi security and political expert, in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. Hashimi said he received information from the Iraqi delegation to Washington that “the American discussed with Abadi the danger of ‘believers in the velayat-e faqih [a jab at Iranians] and the need to keep them out of the PMU.”

By Salam Zidane for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

It's said that some college degrees aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Some graduates in Iraq are finding that to be true. Others can't even get the paper.

Dozens of students protested March 8 in front of the private Mazaya College, calling on the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to accredit their university and issue diplomas.

Mohammed al-Ghazi, who graduated two years ago from the college in southeastern Iraq, said the school still refuses to grant him and others their degrees, instead saying the ministry is reviewing them.

“I spent millions of dinars [1 million dinars equals about $860] at Mazaya College to obtain a degree in computer engineering. After I completed my fourth year, I found out that the college wasn't accredited and its degree is worthless on the market,” Ghazi told Al-Monitor.

After the protests, the ministry decided March 14 that it will develop a special test for Mazaya graduates and that if they pass it, they will be considered qualified in their field of study and receive a certificate from the ministry. The ministry hasn't yet started the process, which it expects to be complicated and lengthy.

In December, Iraq and five other Arab countries were removed from the World Economic Forum (WEF) global education quality index because their schools don't meet basic education standards. The other countries are Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia.

Arab countries that made the list, with their ranking, are: Qatar, 4; United Arab Emirates, 10; Lebanon, 25; Bahrain, 33; Jordan, 45; and Saudi Arabia, 54. The index includes 140 countries.

After 2003, when the Iraq war began, many international and foreign universities stopped recognizing Iraqi university degrees because their standards couldn't be verified. Iraqis are asked to take proficiency tests before being admitted to some universities abroad. In the United States, each institution develops its own standards and requirements; many use credential verification services.

By Hamdi Malik for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said recently that any group taking up arms in Iraq outside the state's official framework will be considered outlaws. However, it seems at least some of the factions fighting under the banner of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq would not obey Abadi's order.

On March 22, Abadi spoke at a meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS (Islamic State, or IS) in Washington. Also during his trip, he told the media that IS will be eliminated from Iraq's cities "within weeks."

What will happen then? Hashim al-Musawi, the spokesman for Iran-controlled, Shiite Iraq militia known as the Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq (al-Nojaba), announced earlier in the month the formation of the Golan Liberation Brigade. But the announcement appeared to be more a declaration that Iran-affiliated Iraqi militias will be ready to take on a greater role in the region once IS is gone. (In addition, Musawi threatened to take military action against Turkish forces stationed near Mosul if they refuse to leave Iraq.)

The brigade announcement carried great symbolism, as the press conference was held in the office of the Iranian news agency Tasnim, which supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran.

Musawi also criticized the United States and Saudi Arabia, stressing that al-Nojaba “will not drop its weapons as long as the region is still threatened." Al-Nojaba will continue its endeavor to reclaim the Golan Heights in Syria from Israel, he added.

Three days after this announcement, a leader of al-Nojaba had something to say on the subject. The militia's secretary-general, Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, said March 11, “The Golan Liberation Brigade's formation is not propaganda, but one of the Islamic resistance’s true objectives.” He added, “The resistance is capable of beating the 'axis of evil' and the Zionist entity," referring to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

This isn't the first time Iran-affiliated Iraqi parties have talked about taking action outside Iraq, in line with Iran’s foreign policy in the region.

A study by the Iraqi Government into a planned oil pipeline that would extend from Iraq to Jordan has revealed that the project will cost between 5 and 7 billion dollars.

Jordanian press quoted energy minister Ibrahim Seif saying that a decision over the implementation of the project is expected from the Iraqi side soon.

“The pipeline will extend from Iraq’s city of Najaf, along the Saudi borders, to (Jordan’s) al-Aqaba,” the minister said, adding that both countries  will be adopting a build-operate-transfer (B.O.T) system within 15-20 years in carrying out the undertaking.

Officials from both countries agreed recently in Amman on the project that is meant to transfer nearly 100 million barrels of oil, covering Jordan’s needs of crude oil, which are estimated at 150.000 barrels a day. The remaining amounts are transferred to Egypt and other countries having oil deals with Iraq.

Jordan and Iraq had already signed a deal involving supplies to Jordan at 10.000 barrels of crude oil per day, surging to 30.000. Oil imports from Iraq are on a halt at present, though, due to the unstable security situation in the country.

(Source: GardaWorld)

By Zakiyeh Yazdanshenas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iran Business News.

In June 2014, Mosul was seized by the Islamic State (IS), whose leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi soon afterward announced a caliphate from the city’s grand mosque. Now the caliphate is seemingly coming to an end.

Iraqi government forces took the eastern part of Mosul from IS on Jan. 24 after three months of fighting. On March 15, a spokesman for Iraq's Counterterrorism Service said 60% of the western part of Mosul is under the control of Iraqi security forces. The day before, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said the operation is in its final stage, pledging the defeat of IS.

But military victory in Mosul is just the beginning of a more complicated phase for Iraq. Disparate forces have so far come together to pursue the common objective of expelling IS from Iraq. With the imminent achievement of this goal, many underlying and preceding power struggles will likely re-emerge.

Moreover, it should be borne in mind that various external powers — including Iran and the United States — have become greatly involved in Iraq’s security-related affairs and expanded their spheres of influence within the country since IS' 2014 onslaught.

One key question is who will step in to fill the power vacuum in post-IS Mosul. Will the United States revert to its previous retreat from the Middle East, or will it opt to reassure its regional allies by keeping at least a part of its current forces in Iraq? Will Iran seek to establish a presence in northern Iraq, either directly or through its allies?

After having withdrawn in late 2011, the United States has once again become militarily engaged in the country, deploying over 5,000 troops and special forces, and spending more than $10 billion on combating IS in Iraq and Syria.

By Sara al-Qaher for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

On Feb. 20, the Iraqi Oil Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian Oil Ministry to settle disputes over the joint oil fields and examine the possibility of building a pipeline to export crude oil from the Kirkuk fields, in the north of Iraq, through Iran. The ministry also wants to study moving Iraqi crude oil to the Iranian Abadan refinery.

According to an Iraqi Oil Ministry statement, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi agreed with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Zanganeh during the latter’s visit to Iraq on coordinating their stances in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to achieve balance in the global oil markets, support oil prices and study the construction of pipelines to export crude oil from Kirkuk fields through Iran.

Five Iraqi oil fields are situated along the border with Iran: Dehloran, Shahr, Paydar Gharb, Aban and Al Noor. Baghdad and Tehran share the fields of Majnoon, Abu Ghraib, Bazerkan, Al-Fakkah and Khana. These fields contain huge reserves of light crude oil close to the earth’s surface and reserves exceeding 95 billion barrels. This is the largest reserve of hydrocarbons in the Middle East.

On Feb. 2, Iranian companies resumed drilling 20 new oil wells in the southern Azadegan field, which is one of the shared oil fields between Iraq and Iran.

Oil and Energy Committee member of parliament Ahmad Madloul told Al-Monitor that most disputed oil wells are Iraqi, according to the maps that were published before the Iran-Iraq war. But Iran believes otherwise. The agreement will be decisive for settling the dispute. He said, “If a joint committee is not formed, the oil wells will bring bigger problems in the future for both countries.”

He asked that the committee identify, when formed, the proprietorship of the lands first to find out who rightfully owns the oil wells on the shared borders.

By Ali Mamouri for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made an unannounced visit Feb. 25 to Baghdad, seeking to re-establish long-severed ties with Iraq, perhaps with an eye toward the Saudi role in the region once the Islamic State (IS) is defeated.

This visit is the first by a top Saudi official since 1990, when then-Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal came to Baghdad along with King Fahd to attend the Arab summit. Saudi Arabia did send its ambassador, Thamer al-Sabhan, to Iraq for the first time in June 2015 after 25 years of severed diplomatic relations. Sabhan, however, left Baghdad last year at the request of the Iraqi government and no replacement was appointed.

Jubeir said his country will appoint a new ambassador to Iraq soon and is looking forward to forming economic ties on different levels with Iraq.

“Saudi Arabia is looking to build special relations with Iraq, and there is a desire to work together in the war on terror,” Jubeir said during a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

The pertinent question, however, is what took so long? What made Saudi Arabia wait all these years since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003 to seek special relations and cooperation with Iraq in the war on terror?

Why did the kingdom not take a similar stance when Iraq was most in need of help from neighboring countries when jihadi groups were spreading in the country between 2005 and 2007, and when IS took control of one-third of Iraqi territories and Baghdad was on the verge of falling in 2014?

Saudi Arabia might be thinking of arrangements for the post-IS period and is seeking to extend its influence in Iraq to find a balance with the broad Iranian influence.

By Hamdi Malik for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

Despite tough talk, US unlikely to take on Iranian forces in Iraq

US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi have spoken over the phone about the Iranian threat in the region, according to a White House statement issued Feb. 10.

On Feb. 1, Trump tweeted, “Iran is rapidly taking over more and more of Iraq.” Iranian influence in Iraq has risen since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, and especially after the withdrawal of the last US troops at the end of 2011.

Since the new US administration took office on Jan. 20, it has adopted a strict stance toward Iran. As a result, disputes between the two countries have increased.

In response to Iran’s ballistic missile test and following the Iran-backed Houthis’ targeting of a Saudi warship off the Yemeni coast, former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn officially warned Iran on Feb. 1 and condemned its activities that he said “undermine security, prosperity and stability … in the Middle East.”

On Feb. 4, Secretary of Defense James Mattis described Iran as “the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.” Vice President Mike Pence echoed Mattis in his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 18.

In response to the US statements, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Feb. 3, “Iran is unmoved by these threats.” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Gen. Hussein Salami said on Feb. 2, “Our missiles, warships and launchers will increase by the day.”

The commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour threatened the United States on Feb. 22 with “a painful slap in the face if it makes a faux pas.” Press reports noted that the United States is taking steps in the region to form an anti-Iranian military alliance including Arab states and sharing intelligence with Israel.

By John Lee.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir has met senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad, in the first such visit by a Saudi foreign minister since 1990.

Last year, the Saudis appointed an ambassador in Iraq for the first time in a quarter of a century, but later demanded his removal after he made critical remarks about Iranian influence in Iraq.

(Sources: BBC News, Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs)